Scourge of the Beast
“Ooh, what's that smell... The sweet blood, ooh, it sings to me! It's enough to make a man sick.” ~Father Gascoigne, a hunter who fell to the scourge of the beast. Catalyst The scourge of the beast is something that the Healing Church never intended to release upon Yharnam. But the intoxicating power of their blood ministration was too much to abandon. Partaking in the healing blood of the Church corrupts the mind and body in spite of its healing properties. The scourge of the beast ran rampant across lost Loran, but this terrible curse was not enough to dissuade Laurence from using the blood to found the Healing Church. Partaking of the healing strain of the Old Blood is enough to begin the transformation into a scourge beast. Progression Once you’ve had the taste of blood it’s hard to satisfy the hunger for more. Whenever you see an enemy fall unconscious, helpless, dying, or dies in combat you must succeed at a Will save (DC = 15 + your manifestation level) or else you must perform a coup de grace. Even if the creature is dead, you attempt to hack the creature to bits. If you fail the save but your allies or others prevent you from exacting your retribution for three consecutive slights, you shake off this urge. You avoid having to exact retribution for the time being, and your corruption doesn’t progress. However, the DC of the Will save against your corruption progressing increases by 2. These increases stack each time you shake off this urge, and they last until your corruption reaches the next corruption stage. Corruption Stage 1: The first time you fail, you lose control of yourself for 24 hours. When you wake next you find yourself covered in blood. Some beast is dead by your hands. Your alignment shifts one step towards chaotic evil. Corruption Stage 2: The second time you fail, you lose control again. This time though, you’ve begun to take on the bestial qualities of the scourge. Your limbs are elongated and covered in patches of fur. Your alignment shifts one more step towards chaotic evil. Corruption Stage 3: The third time you fail, you completely lose control. Your alignment shifts to chaotic evil and your transformation into a beast is complete. You become an NPC under the GMs control. Removing the Corruption Removing the scourge of the beast corruption requires extensive treatment not related to the Healing Blood. Psychological conditioning to heal the warping of the mind that beasthood imposes and experimental transmutation magic to restore the body are both needed. Even after the mind and body are restored a strong addiction to the Blood remains. This does not present itself as the actual disease, but instead requires the former beast scourge to make a Will save (DC 15 + their previous Manifestation Level) or succumb to the desire to consume the Blood, doing everything in their power to consume the Blood. If they ever utilize the Healing Blood again the creature immediately regains this corruption at its full previous strength. Manifestations The following are manifestations of the scourge of the beast corruption. Abhorrent Transformation You can disguise your bestial nature but it becomes undeniable when you grow angry. Prerequisite(s): Manifestation level 9th, claws of the beast, stalker of streets, beast fur, bloodthirst. Gift: You can hide the bestial portions of your body or transform into the hideous beast you are. Your bestial features are hidden, meaning you don’t gain the gifts of your manifestation or suffer the stain if it relies on outward appearance (Bloodthirst, Claws of the Beast, Keen Sight and Stalker of the Streets). You can transform as a standard action into a abhorrent beast, causing all of your manifestations to grant their gifts and inflict their stains again. In addition you increase in size by one category as per enlarge person. Stain: It becomes extremely easy to set you off. When you suffer a fear effect, are subject to a rage or bloodrage spell, or enter a rage or bloodrage, you must transform on your next available action. You cannot distinguish friend from foe, attacking the closest creature or creature to most recently attack you, as per confusion. An ally can attempt to calm you down with a Diplomacy check (DC 10+ Your HD + Manifestation Level). Ashen Blood Your claws or teeth drip with the poison that lead to ashen blood sickness. Prerequisite(s): Manifestation level 7th, claws of the beast and stalker of the streets, or bloodthirst and beast fur. Gift: Your claw attacks (if you possess claws of the beast) or bite attack (if you possess bloodthirst) can inflict a poison which leads to a more aggressive form of ashen blood. * Type injury; Save Fortitude DC 10 + ½ your Character Level + Manifestation Level; Frequency 1/round for 2 rounds; Initial Effect 1d2 Con damage; Secondary Effect bleed damage from non-poison sources increases by 1 for 1 minute; Cure 1 save Stain: You are not entirely immune to the poison in your blood, and without regular treatment you will eventually succumb to it. Every day you must make a Fortitude save against your own poison (racial bonuses to poisons do not apply). If you fail you take 1d2 Con drain and take double damage from bleed until the drain is healed with magic. You cannot recover from this drain naturally, even if you would have an ability that would normally heal ability drain. Beast Fur You grow the fur of beasts. Gift: You gain electricity resistance 5. Stain: You grow fur that occasionally sparks with red electricity but gain vulnerability to fire, taking an additional 50% from sources of fire damage. Bestial Empathy You can interact with other beasts on a primal level. Gift: You can communicate with animals and magical beasts with an intelligence of 2 or less. You can use Diplomacy to alter such animals’ attitudes, and you gain a +4 racial bonus on such checks. This bonus applies on your wild empathy checks. Stain: Your animalistic nature imposes a penalty on your Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive skill checks equal to your manifestation level (minimum –2) when dealing with humanoids (and other civilized folk at the GM’s discretion). Bloodthirst You gain a bite attack and can taste blood in the water. Prerequisite(s): Beast Fur. Gift: You gain a bite attack as a primary natural weapon. This bite attack deals 1d6 points of damage if your size is Medium (1d4 if Small). Additionally, you gain the scent ability when underwater and can track a creature that travels underwater using a Perception check rather than a Survival check, so long as it was bleeding (either suffering from a bleed effect or having taken at least 1 point of piercing or slashing damage that was neither healed nor treated with a successful Heal check). Stain: Your toothy maw distorts your speech, and your thoughts flit between potential prey. You take a 15% spell failure chance for spells with verbal or thought components and a –2 penalty on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Handle Animal, and Perform checks. Claws of the Beast Sharp elongated claws grow from your hands. Prerequisite(s): Manifestation level 3rd, stalker of the streets. Gift: You gain two claw natural attacks. These claws deal 1d4 points of damage if your size is Medium (1d3 if Small). Stain: You exude a strong odor of blood. This allows creatures with the scent ability to notice you from twice the usual distance, and makes it extremely difficult—and sometimes outright impossible—to disguise yourself. You also take a –4 penalty on your Diplomacy and Perform checks. Your supernatural scent is not affected by the negate aroma spell. Keen Sight Your eyes grow accustomed to the dark streets of Yharnam. Gift: You gain low-light vision. At manifestation level 5th, you gain darkvision with a range of 60 feet, or if you already have darkvision, its range increases by 30 feet. Stain: Your eyes’ reflective sheen causes light sensitivity. Stalker of the Streets The cobblestone streets are your hunting ground. Its fearful pedestrians your prey. Gift: You gain a +4 racial bonus on Climb checks (which doesn’t stack with the +8 racial bonus from having a climb speed) and can take a 10 on Climb checks even while threatened. At manifestation level 3rd, you gain a climb speed equal to your land speed. At manifestation level 5th, you gain a constant spider climb effect. Stain: You grow sharp nails that, although aren’t sufficient to function as claws, they do dig into stone or other hard surfaces. These don’t work well with weapons or for fine manipulation, you take a –2 penalty on Craft, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Sleight of Hand, and attack rolls with manufactured weapons. The Sweet Blood The sickly sweet scent of blood is enough to make a man sick. Prerequisite(s): What’s that smell…? Gift: Whenever you can smell blood, you gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls. This bonus doubles on creatures suffering from bleed damage or at less than half of their maximum hit point total (except creatures immune to bleed damage). Stain: Whenever you are gaining this benefit, you take a –2 penalty on saving throws against emotion effects. What’s that smell…? Your senses grow sharp and you can smell blood on the air. Gift: You can the scent ability, but this only functions on creatures currently suffering bleed damage, or at half or less their maximum hit point total (creatures immune to bleed damage cannot be detected in this way). At Manifestation Level 5 you gain blindsight against creatures suffering bleed damage or at half or less their maximum hit point total (again, creatures immune to bleed cannot be detected this way). Stain: The smell of blood becomes intoxicating. Whenever you smell a creature bleeding you must make a Fortitude save (DC 15 + Manifestation Level) or begin attacking the bleeding creature. You must make a separate save for each creature you can detect in this way. A successful save stifles this urge until the creature is healed. Template (+1 CR) The Beast Scourge simple corruption template creates a creature that has succumbed to the scourge of the beast that plagues Yharnam. Not all beast scourge creatures look the same. Some are bipedal humanoids that still wield weapons, others appear to be more akin to werewolves in their hybrid form, and others still take on monstrous forms truly twisted by the corruption of the old blood. Unlike lycanthropes, this template can be applied to any creature. Quick Rules: Increase AC by 2, +1 hp/HD, +1 on attack and damage rolls, +1 on rolls based on Con or Dex, two claw attacks that deal 1d4 damage and poison, one bite attack that deals 1d6 damage and poison, +8 to Climb and can always take 10 on Climb checks; climb speed equal to base speed, treated as monstrous humanoid (if originally humanoid) or magical beast (if originally not monstrous humanoid or humanoid) Rebuild Rules: type changes to monstrous humanoid (if the base creature is a monstrous humanoid) or a magical beast (if any other creature type); Senses scent, low-light vision; AC natural armor increase by 1; Defensive Abilities electricity resistance 5; Weaknesses vulnerability to fire and bleed damage; Melee 2 claws (1d4 plus poison for medium creatures), 1 bite (1d6 plus poison for medium creatures); Speed climb speed equal to base speed; Special Attacks ashen blood poison (see above); Abilities +2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con Category:Yharnam Update Category:Character Options